You may not be familiar with this food if you're not from a German or Eastern European family. In my home, we eat it every New Year's Day to bring prosperity. This year I decided to look it up to see what other potential benefits it held. And I was surprised!
The obvious is that since sauerkraut is made from cabbage, a member of the Brassica family, it can help you to fight cancer. Furthermore, the production of sauerkraut from cabbage enhances its cancer-fighting potential. Researchers at the University of New Mexico report that compounds found in sauerkraut specifically fight breast, lung, colon, prostate, and liver cancer! Moms of teens, take note: apparently, it's especially important to eat sauerkraut during adolescence in order to derive the maximum benefit.
The fermentation process that creates sauerkraut from cabbage creates immune-boosting phytochemicals. It tends to be a cold-weather food, eaten with bratwurst or other comfort foods, so it's perfect to eat during cold and flu season.
In your digestive tract, sauerkraut can help to inhibit the growth of E. coli, salmonella, and candida. It can also help produce some powerful antioxidants, superoxide dismutase and glutathione.
Bavarian researchers report that wearing German lederhosen (see photo) can increase the power of Sauerkraut by a whopping 232%.
Ach du lieber! Just messing with you.: )
Not feeling very Germanic today? The Korean version of sauerkraut known as kim chee, has been found to have many similar benefits.
I don't know about you…but some German-apple potato pancakes with a side of sauerkraut are looking like a great possibility for dinner tonight!
Why is it that we have a need to wear on our sleeves how little we sleep, as if it's a badge of honor?
People who don't sleep are physically hurting themselves in ways that diet and exercise can't always repair.
The large and famous nurses' study showed that women working night shifts had a greater incidence of breast cancer than those working during the day.
Accumulating research is connecting poor sleep with weight gain, insulin resistance, and diabetes.
What is it about sleep that is so crucial?
Melatonin. It's our body's most powerful antioxidant. It literally acts like a scrubbing bubble when we sleep, scouring that inflammatory damage from a day's worth of living, thinking, and stressing, leaving the brain and nervous system clean and ready to go the next day.
When we cut ourselves short on sleep, we don't give melatonin a chance to do its job.
We age ourselves much more quickly than we do when sleep is something we prioritize.
First thing you need to do to change things, is change your attitude about sleep.
You are not a better person because you deprive yourself of it.
You can't make up for what you lost during the week, over the weekend. Once it's lost, it's lost.
You may not be able to overcome the damaging effects of too little sleep with better eating and more exercise. In fact, it may be harder to achieve this while sleep deprived, because you are more likely to accelerate aging even more with the caffeine and sugar you're using to get through the day.
Want to get your weight under control? Reduce your cancer risk? Improve your fertility?
I engaged in a Facebook discussion about grapefruit recently. Ruby Reds are currently cheap at Trader Joe's, a fact which made one friend very happy. One of HER friends cautioned that grapefruits have been associated with breast cancer.
I promised to look into it and blog, which is what you're reading now!
In a survey of 50,000 women, researchers found that grapefruit may increase estrogen levels, a known breast cancer risk. It is thought that this relationship may be related to the fact that grapefruits alter a metabolic pathway involved in estrogen metabolism, called"cytochrome p450".
The cytochrome P450 pathway is also important for the metabolism of many medications commonly used with PCOS. Grapefruit and grapefruit juice may alter the metabolism of this pathway in the following ways: --may induce excessive sedation with benzodiazepenes --may induce rhabdomyolysis with statins --may cause hypotension with calcium antagonists --may alter electrocardiograms with astemizole, cisapride, pimozide, and terfenadine --may induce overdose with SSRI medications such as Paxil
Wow…sounds like grapefruit could be the kiss of death, doesn't it? Well, those studies certainly sell newspapers and drive up advertising rates on websites who post them, but that's not the whole story.
First of all…when it comes to your medications, if you eat grapefruit regularly, tell your physician. She can calibrate the dose of the medication to reduce the risk of these side effects. Since grapefruits are a winter fruit, you may need to communicate with your physician to account for seasonal changes in your diet.
With regard to breast cancer, even though a couple of years ago the grapefruit/breast cancer link got lots of press time…a recent study reported no association between the two. None of the studies looked specifically at this issue with PCOS, but I suspect with the already present tendency toward high estrogen, there may be an altered metabolic system that could be grapefruit sensitive…and could be problematic…IF YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GRAPEFRUIT IS NOT ONE OF MODERATION.
Where women with PCOS might go wrong is if they cycle in and out of diets with limited variety and which focus on grapefruit…um…THE GRAPEFRUIT DIET. If you have PCOS, you may already have a tendency to be hyperestrogenemic. You may be on at least one of the medications mentioned above. And your relationship with food may be more one of feast/famine than one of moderation and variety.
Also, if you have a family history of breast cancer, eating too much grapefruit, all the time, may not be a good idea. Enjoying a seasonal box of Ruby Reds once a year…probably isn't going to be the worst thing you could do to yourself. Even if you have PCOS.
If you moderate the diet, so that grapefruit is one of many fruits you enjoy, and you practice moderation instead of yo-yo dieting, you should be ok with grapefruit.
And you might even get yourself off of some of the medications that were of concern in the first place.: )
http://www.globalrph.com/gfruit.htm
Monroe KR, Murphy SP, Kolonel LN, Pike MC. Prospective study of grapefruit intake and risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women: the Multiethnic Cohort Study. Br J Cancer. 2007 Aug 6;97(3):440-5. Epub 2007 Jul 10.
Spencer EA, Key TJ, Appleby PN, van Gils CH, Olsen A, Tjønneland A, Clavel-Chapelon F, Boutron-Ruault MC, Touillaud M, Sánchez MJ, Bingham S, Khaw KT, Slimani N, Kaaks R, Riboli E. Prospective study of the association between grapefruit intake and risk of breast cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Cancer Causes Control. 2009 Aug;20(6):803-9. Epub 2009 Feb 18.
So by now I'm sure you've heard the news about the new mammography recommendations. I wasn't on the panel and I'm not a breast cancer specialist, but I do have some thoughts pertaining to what these findings and the potential implications mean, to women reading this blog.
It's a mixed bag.
1. First of all, it's not the scientists, it's not the government, and it's not your doctor who is in charge of your health. YOU are in charge of your health. If you're using this situation as an excuse to be paralyzed about self-care, you've been defeated and you've turned your health over to someone else.
2. Keep in mind, many women with PCOS have high estrogen levels, meaning they have extra estrogen that can find its way to estrogen-sensitive tissues and cause problems such as cancer. You are potentially an at-risk population that needs earlier mammograms than the average American woman. It is important when discussing your personal need for earlier mammograms, that this health issue be included in the decision making. If your physician does not acknowledge or understand the relationship between PCOS and cancer, it is your right to find a physician who does. Sticking with the same physician and allowing that attitude to guide your health choices is turning your health fate over to someone who doesn't deserve it.
3. The good news is, women with PCOS are already used to advocating for themselves so doing so with the mammogram issue is not something they're likely unaccustomed to doing. Be assertive!
4. The bad news is, women with weight issues tend to avoid doctor visits because they don't want to be chided about losing weight. If you don't go to the doctor, all of the above don't even matter. Find a physician who will treat you respectfully…AND MAKE A COMMITMENT TO REGULAR PHYSICALS.
5. Remember, getting a mammogram is not the only thing you can do to reduce your risk of breast cancer. Breast self-exams are very important. Women with poor body image are not the best at conducting breast self-exams. If you're having trouble with the idea of looking at and feeling your breasts, the consequences could be as serious as not getting that mammogram. Ask for support.
6. A local television station sends out a monthly self-exam reminder, which I'll forward to all of you as well. If that helps you to remember to do them, then it's our pleasure to be a part of that. Here is information on how to perform a breast self exam.
7. All of the dietary recommendations you see here are made taking into consideration the implications for risk of other diseases, including cancer. Taking care of yourself in ways that benefit your PCOS, also reduce your risk of breast cancer. So eat well, be active, manage your stress…and get some sleep!
Remember, your health is YOURS. Not the government's, not your doctor's, not your insurance company's. Care for it like it's your most valuable possession. Because it is.
A friend of mine is a two-time survivor of breast cancer. She is a single woman, diagnosed at age 40, who chose a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. Along the way, she’s had a lot of challenging medical procedures, fears, and unpleasant side effects. After dealing with the immediate medical issues, she realized she was depressed, and turned to the internet for help.
She found numerous online resources for cancer, and breast cancer specifically. She was steeped in depression, lethargic at best, but that’s when she got angry! Her anger pleased me as a therapist, by the way, because getting angry often leads to action, and she needed to take some serious action to get out of her depression. She found that there were a lot of people saying “Why me?” about cancer. (As an aside, there are two very helpful organizations online called www.whyme.org for pediatric cancer and www.y-me.org for breast cancer.). But what she said to me is “Why NOT me?! Who am I to be so special that I escape a very common disease?” She found “why-ing” to be pointless and actually an impediment to her getting well. And here I’d been thinking that it was a perfectly reasonable question!
I’d venture a guess that you’ve said “Why me?” more than a few times when it comes to your PCOS. I know I have. There are many questions and thoughts that come along with that first thought, and all of them have the underlying subtext of “THIS IS SO UNFAIR”:
• Why do other women get to go on a diet and lose weight with relative ease? • Why do other women get pregnant by accident, and I tried for a decade and it never happened? • Why do I have to shave my face every day (or spend thousands of dollars on laser hair removal and electrolysis)? • Who is ever going to love me/want to have sex with me when I look like this? • Why do I have to take all these supplements? • Why can’t I eat carbs like normal people? • WHAT is happening with my hair? • Why do I need an endocrinologist? And a cardiologist? And, and, and…
It IS unfair. It’s expensive, inconvenient, awkward, uncomfortable, scary, humiliating, enraging, and a whole lot of other things. And yet, the reality is, 10 – 20% of women have PCOS. You are fortunate enough to know that you’ve got it, so you can start dealing with it proactively. You found this blog, and hopefully some other resources. As http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_von_Humboldt Karl Wilhelm von Humboldt says, “How a person masters his fate is more important than what his fate is.”
So your fate is PCOS. I know it’s a hard thing to accept. But once you can move to acceptance you can take action. Mastery of your fate means taking control, and making choices that support your good health. It means understanding that, although genetics dealt you a bad hand, there are many things you can do to positively affect the daily quality of your life, and your long-term health, well-being, and longevity.
Instead of saying “Why Me?” (and really, it IS okay to say it every now and then – you’re not perfect, you’re human, and a little self-pity may be a necessary step along the road to further and fuller acceptance), see if you can feel a shift in your mental landscape by saying “Why not me? Yeah, why not me?” Then move forward from there with something more productive.
Gretchen Kubacky, Psy.D. is a Health Psychologist in private practice in West Los Angeles, California. She specializes in counseling women and couples who are coping with infertility, PCOS, and related endocrine disorders and chronic illnesses.
If you would like to learn more about Dr. HOUSE or her practice, or obtain referrals in the Los Angeles area, please visit her website at www.drhousemd.com, or e-mail her at Gretchen@drhousemd.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @askdrhousemd.
I've told many a client they're sick and they've been playing catch up since before they were even born. Others feel the same way, too…this was recently published in USA Today:
By Liz Szabo, USA TODAY Keishawn Williams is already talking to her baby, although her child isn't due until November.
"What are you doing?" asks Williams, 22."Are you awake? Are you asleep? Why are you sitting on my bladder?"
Although Williams may not realize it, her body and baby are also conducting a separate, even more important conversation that may influence her child's health for the rest of its life. Although neither mother nor child is aware of this crucial dialogue, Williams' body already is telling her baby about what to expect from the world outside, says Mark Hanson, a professor at the University of Southampton in England.
And thanks to those biological signals, the choices that Williams makes today — by getting good prenatal care, eating nutrient-packed vegetables and avoiding alcohol, tobacco and caffeine — may help her baby long after birth, Hanson says. Research into the"developmental origins of adult disease" suggests that Williams' healthy living may help her child avoid problems such as cancer, heart disease, depression and diabetes not just in childhood, but 50 years from now.
Though adults still need to eat right and exercise, a growing number of studies now suggest the best time to fight the diseases of aging may be before babies are even born, says Peter Gluckman of the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
Williams' baby is still too young to kick, let alone ponder its future. But its body is already adapting and preparing for its specific environment, Gluckman says, by reading cues sent through Williams' blood and amniotic fluid.
"Every baby in fetal life is adjusting its pattern of development according to the world it predicts it will live in," he says.
Reading cues while in utero
During the crucial"window of opportunity" before birth and during infancy, environmental cues help"program" a person's DNA, says Alexander Jones of Great Ormond Street Hospital in London and the University College of London Institute for Child Health. This happens through a delicate interplay of genes and the environment called epigenetics, which can determine how a baby reacts for the rest of its life, Jones says.
Through epigenetics, chemical groups attach to DNA. Although they don't change the order of the genes, the chemical groups can switch those genes on or off, Jones says.
Many things, such as chemical contaminants, can cause epigenetic changes. So babies exposed in the womb to synthetic hormones may begin responding abnormally to the natural hormones later made by their own bodies, says Hugh Taylor of Yale University School of Medicine.
That's why, doctors believe, many babies exposed before birth to a drug called DES, or diethylstilbestrol, later developed rare cancers or fertility problems, Taylor says.
Doctors stopped prescribing DES, which had been used for decades to prevent miscarriages, in 1971. But Taylor and other scientists are concerned that"hormone-disrupting" chemicals, such as those used in pesticides and even common plastics, could cause similar problems.
Babies and children also can develop abnormal reactions to stress, says Jack Shonkoff of Harvard University, co-author of a June paper on early influences in health in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
In the short term, reacting to typical, everyday difficulties can help people develop a healthy response to stress.
But persistent,"toxic" stress — such as neglect or extreme poverty — may program a child's nervous system to be on perpetual high alert. Over time, this can damage the immune response and lead to chronic ailments, such as heart disease and depression, the study says.
Diet as a predictor
A pregnant woman's diet tells a fetus a lot about its future environment, including how much food will be available after birth, Jones says.
A baby conceived during a famine, for example, might learn to be"thrifty," hoarding every calorie and packing on fat rather than muscle, even at the expense of developing vital organs, such as the kidneys, liver and brain. Because of a lack of calories, the baby also may be born small.
In a famine, those early adjustments and predictions about the future could mean the difference between survival and starvation, Jones says.
But babies may run into trouble if the world doesn't match their predictions, Jones says.
A baby who has learned to hoard calories, for example, may grow up to be fat or diabetic once he or she finally gets enough to eat, Jones says. Doctors believe this occurs not just with babies whose mothers are starving, but with those who are malnourished because of a mother's medical problems, poor nutrition or exposure to tobacco smoke, which damages the placenta.
It's well known, Taylor says, that women who smoke are more likely to have low-birth-weight babies, who are in some ways"starved" for nutrients in the womb. Babies born too small are at risk for many immediate problems, such as underdeveloped lungs and bleeding in the brain.
If they survive, these youngsters also face long-term risks.
Studies show that small babies who gain weight rapidly in infancy or childhood — a sign that bodies are already making the most of every calorie — also have higher rates of adult heart disease and diabetes, Jones says.
Specialized X-rays have shown babies of young mothers with poor diets in India, for example, are born with extra belly fat, even though they seem to be a normal weight. Once these babies start getting an adequate diet, they are likely to put on weight, Gluckman says.
"Even by the time of birth, they're on a different pattern of development," Gluckman says.
Teaching future mothers
Adversity in early life can increase a child's risk of disease, but it doesn't seal his or her fate, Shonkoff says.
Although emotional abuse in childhood increases the risk of adult depression, for example, supportive relationships with adults can help children cope and recover, Shonkoff says.
Communities also can help, Gluckman says. By helping women such as Williams get good prenatal care and nutrition, for example, communities can reduce the number of fetuses who are malnourished and born small, Gluckman says. Babies who are born at normal weight are more likely to maintain that healthy weight.
Because half of pregnancies are unplanned, women need to learn about nutrition — and maintain healthy diets — long before they conceive, Gluckman says.
"We have got to give far greater focus to mothers, the women who are likely to become mothers and to the care of newborn children than we have in the past," Gluckman says.
Williams, who also has a 1-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter, says she's trying hard to give her children a bright future. She breast-fed both and now works as a breast-feeding peer counselor at the Family Health and Birth Center in Washington, D.C., where many patients are low-income or minority mothers.
The birth center also aims to help babies by getting their moms good prenatal care.
About 6% of black mothers who delivered at the birth center had low-birth-weight babies, compared with the citywide average of 14.2% for black mothers, says the center's Ruth Watson Lubic.
"Twentieth-century medicine dealt with child health and adult health separately," Shonkoff says."What 21st-century medicine is telling us is that if we want to change adult health, we have to look in babies, even before they're born."
Awhile back, a good friend of mine who is an airline pilot shared with me that despite the fact that pilots must pass routine and rigorous physicals, most live only about 10 years after retirement…and currently the mandatory retirement age for airline pilots is 60!
I've been interested ever since in why a demographic of individuals who meet our current definition of"healthy" may not necessarily be so. My ulterior motive, of course, is to keep my friend around as long as possible, but in the process of studying about sleep and health, I continue to find some really interesting things relevant to PCOS.
Such as the relationship between shift work and breast cancer. The connection here is that women with PCOS are more prone to cancer in estrogen-sensitive tissues.
Researchers have known for a long time that women who work shift jobs, such as nurses, are more prone to breast cancer. Now, research is emerging to suggest that melatonin physically suppresses the growth of breast cancer cells. Melatonin exerts its effect in numerous ways, from suppressing receptor genes, reducing the activity of proteins that regulate tumor growth, changing genes, inhibiting cell reproduction. The study I'm referring to in this post literally referred to melatonin as an"antiestrogenic" compound.
So 'splain me something, Lucy. Why is it, when I go to the Susan Komen Race for the Cure website…that the keywords"sleep" and"shift work" bring up nothing? Seems to me that the Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk would be more relevant…and preventive to those who participate…if it was a Breast Cancer 3 Day Slumber Party!
Srinivasan V, Spence DW, Pandi-Perumal SR, Trakht I, Esquifino AI, Cardinali DP, Maestroni GJ. Melatonin, environmental light, and breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2008 Apr;108(3):339-50.
